Here is a (not so) Faddish Diet Tip

Food is energy. There you have it. Now what on earth does that mean? Well, you may find it ironic seeing dietary advice from a blogger who also wrote a brief ode to Cheesy Nuggets. Also, you may object that the statement has little meaning, or even that it is incorrect, since in addition to energy, food contains other important things like vitamins, trace elements, fiber etcetera. This is all very true. Well, this three word statement is not much good on its own, that is true. Where I found it useful as as a 'handle' for referring to a whole lot of other thinking around diet and around values associated with diet. Please bear with me while I explain.

The term 'energy' here can be read not as a nutritionist may read such a term, but as a physicist may do so. Energy is the potential to do work. The potential to make the human body operate, with all that that entails, but meeting all of its very complex requirements. It is that simple, and that complex. Now, if the term is including all of that meaning, then what, if anything does it exclude? What other dialogue exists around food that is not at play here? Well, there are several and they relate to the social and aesthetic properties that food also carries. Food is a signifier. It is part of systems of communication and of the forming of culture. 

Now hang on a minute, you are saying: how can any way of viewing food exclude those very important qualities, which determine so much of what food actually IS?! Well of course it can't. We are social and aesthetic beings. That is key to our identity. It is what separates us from the auditors (meaning no offense anyone in that line of work. I imagine if you are reading this you are not there by choice). So what then? What possible use can a term devoid of this meaning possibly be? 

Well, it can be of use for one thing: It draws into focus the dual nature of food. Food is both nutrition and meaning. By being aware of this and by carrying with us this three word phrase that can be instantly called to mind to remind us of it, we equip ourselves with the ability to interrogate our food choices as follows: Is this my hunger for meaning or my hunger for nutrition that is calling  to me and to what extent do they coincide? That ability is absolutely fundamental to bringing about lasting dietary change. Most dietary advice focuses on what to eat, rather than on actually changing one's self so that one will naturally eat differently and that is arguably where it fails. Use the three words. Think differently. The eating and the interest in what is known of nutrition will follow. 

CEOs and Incentives

CEOs often have little or no incentive to improve. Even in cases of very poor performance by the companies they lead, they continue to receive extremely high pay, often award themselves bonuses and, once they leave, are able to easily find similar work in other companies, no matter how bad they are at it. This is a sad state of affairs.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce is a prime example of this. Increases in his pay are completely disproportionate both to the company's performance under his leadership and to the working conditions of the majority of Qantas employees. 

When share holders vote on pay increases it is rare for the recommendations of the board to be opposed. Those who cast proxy votes but don't specify any instruction by default allow decisions to be passed. Even if there were a high level of voter engagement it would be hard for small share holders to have much influence, since major share holders in companies tend to belong to the same social elites as the company leaders and share similar ideas. 

This is a serious issue of corporate governance. Companies themselves are unlikely to decide to make changes, as they lack any financial incentive. The interests of companies as a whole, as organisations of people working together to earn a living and achieve something, would be better served by restrictions on pay, share schemes, bonuses and benefits given to company leaders. Bonuses must be conditional if they are to be an effective incentive for improvement and for them to be meaningful, salaries and other benefits must be kept at levels where their recipients, though well off, will still feel a need for more income. 

The only way that restrictions can ever be put in place is through legislation. The chances of it happening are very slim. The most likely outcome is that we will be interminably stuck with poorly performing companies that serve largely as a means of funnelling funds into their CEOs' bank accounts.

Man Swears at Gang of Police

This very evening I was in the Melbourne CBD having dinner at a table out the front of McDolalds when a large group of police in fluoro vests came along. There was a man walking the other way and they stopped him and started asking him questions like what he was doing there and whether he had any identification. The man's only apparent crime was being slightly unshaven.

The man cooperated with them but uttered several profanities in his efforts to question why they had suddenly singled him out. Rather than explain, the police officers berated him for swearing.

Unfortunately, one of the changes made by this new state government, who I consider to be idiotically adverse to the rights and freedoms of the residents they supposedly represent, is to introduce fines for swearing in public. This means that the poor chap could well have been fined.

Of course at this point a middle aged and respectably dressed lady spoke up for him, pointing out that he had clearly been doing no harm and minding his own business. Several other people who had been listening would have done the same, had the police showed the nerve to enforce such an absurd law.

Though I know that it would do me no good at all, I have to admit I would almost certainly have sworn if the police hand randomly accosted me in the street like that. Indeed I have no doubt the only reason they chose him and not me was that I was clean shaven and wearing a clean university employees uniform.

This man was in jeans and a t shirt. His subsequent conversation with the lady who had spoken, once the police had left, revealed that the reason for his unshaven face was that he had only today got off a plane returning from charity work in rural areas of South East Asia.

Why do these young men become police officers in the first place? Shouldn't it have something to do with protecting and upholding the rights and freedoms of everyday people in the street? How does harassing us achieve that?

When a close friend of mine called the police after being threatened with physical violence, they didn't respond at all and when she went directly to the police station they merely explained why there was no point applying for a restraining order because it would take too long. There was no mention of the protection notices they can serve on a perpetrator with some paper work and a phone call. There was no mention of referral to family violence related agencies. It appeared that the police officer's main priorities were to avoid involvement, risk and paper work by any available means.

Why aren't these young employees of Victoria Police taking initiative and being courageous? Why aren't they at least up to date with their own procedures and willing to apply them in places where they will help? Are our laws to be enforced by selfish bureaucrats and gangs of aggressive men in high visibility builders' uniforms? What is needed is courage: the courage to express what is right and stand up for ideals, whether they seem to fit with the exact wording of the procedures of not. Courage has been severely lacking in the police behaviour I've witnessed this week.